Rallies in support of Trump – and protests against him – planned around the US for his 74th birthday

WASHINGTON – Rallies in support of President Donald Trump are planned around the nation Sunday as the president celebrates his 74th birthday, as are protests against him and his administration. 

In Great Falls, Montana, the Republican Party organized a car parade where participants are encouraged to "decorate your vehicle with birthday banners, USA flags and join your fellow Montanans in celebrating POTUS’ birthday," which falls on the same day as Flag Day. Events are also planned in  Bozeman, Kalispell and Helena. 

In Michigan, a "Make America Great Again" boat parade traveled to Detroit, where a parade of cars also rolled down Jefferson Avenue. 

Some of the biggest rallies are planned in Florida. Among the planned celebrations are convoys of trucks and motorcycles – and even golf carts in one retirement community – as well as "Trumptillas," consisting of large parades of boats decked out in red, white and blue Trump gear. 

Most of those events were organized with the help of Trump Team 2020 Florida – an organization that lists more than 20 chapters and about 10,000 members statewide. 

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Voter registration will be a major focus of the celebrations. Annie Marie Delgado founded Trump Team 2020 Florida because she thought the state Republican Party was not doing enough to register voters ahead of the Nov. 3 election. 

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"If we don't win Florida, we lose the election," Delgado told the Palm Beach Post. "The way Florida goes, the nation goes." 

But not all of the country is celebrating. 

Trump's birthday falls as protests against police brutality and racial discrimination continue in cities across the U.S. Organizers of Sunday's protests are observing the president's birthday with calls for him to leave the White House. 

"If we want to end white supremacy, we must start by ousting the White Supremacist-in Chief from the White House," said Carl Dix, a leading organizer of RefuseFascism.org. "On Trump’s birthday, let’s fill the streets & SAY GET OUT!! In D.C. and everywhere."

Protests are planned Sunday in Washington, Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit Houston, San Francisco, Los Angeles and St. Paul. 

The demonstrations began after George Floyd, a Black man, died May 25 when a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Some the protests have erupted into violent clashes with police, along with property damage and robbery. 

The president has condemned riotous scenes, threatening to use active-duty troops to stop them, and blamed them on left-wing antifa agitators, a loosely defined group he called "domestic terrorists." 

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Trump's critics, including his former Secretary of Defense James Mattis, have assailed the president for his response to the unrest as undemocratic and divisive.

Delgado wanted to make sure that Floridians knew the events her organization has planned "are positive rallies," unaffiliated with the George Floyd protests. 

"We are not protesting anything or anyone, but we are in full support of our men and women in blue," Delgado said. She said people "are fed up with people destroying property, people tearing down our cities" and "with being locked in their homes" due to measures meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

"We are going to unite and show support for this nation, this flag, our president, and everyone who has suffered the loss of their businesses that have been burned down to the ground," Delgado said.

Contributing: Wendy Rhodes, Palm Beach Post; Emma Dale, Detroit Free Press; staff, Great Falls Tribune